Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News THURSDAY, 9/29/05

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About the National Summit to Save Our Elections
Portland, Oregon * September 30 – October 2, 2005

Register Now

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News WEDNESDAY, 9/28/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391



All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

Please

"Recommend"

for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).



CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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1. TX: THE HAMMER FALLS

Nice job Salon. This is the BIGGEST election fraud – redistricting the House of Representatives in Texas just because they could. Remember the fleeing Democrats who went to Oklahoma to avoid this passing. The ability to force that ‘coup’ in the Texas Leg was delivered by DeLay’s prodigious fundraising. Sayonara Tom!

The Hammer falls

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/29/delay/index_np.html

HUGE ELECTION FRAUD

It isn't just Tom DeLay. The vast corrupt money machine that funded the Republican Revolution is exploding before our eyes.
Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday after resigning as House majority leader.

By Michael Scherer
Sept. 29, 2005 | At its height, the first great political machine of the 21st century worked like this: In Congress, Texas Rep. Tom DeLay controlled the votes like a modern-day Boss Tweed. He called himself "the Hammer." His domain included a vast network of former aides and foot soldiers he installed in key positions at law firms and trade groups, a network that came to be called the "K Street Project." He gathered tithes in the form of campaign cash, hard and soft, and spread it out among the loyal. He legislated for favored donors. He punished those who disobeyed, and bought off those who could be paid.
Conservative activists, who had grown up in the heady days of Reagan's America, patrolled the badlands of American politics for new opportunities. None did it better than Jack Abramoff, a former president of the College Republicans, who had a taste for expensive suits. Abramoff opened a restaurant, Signatures, where the powerful came to be seen and, in many cases, treated to free meals from a menu that included $74 steaks. He pulled in tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes and the Northern Marianas Islands to help fund other operations -- skyboxes at the MCI Center where DeLay could hold his fundraisers and all-expense trips to Scotland where DeLay and friends could play golf.

Others were drawn into the web as well. Abramoff kicked down money to his old college buddy Grover Norquist, an anti-tax crusader whose role was to keep the right-wing ideologues in line. He hired Ralph Reed, a former advisor to the Christian Coalition, who helped keep the religious right on good terms with the Republican leadership. He hired Michael Scanlon, a former aide to DeLay, as his assistant. He leaned on former lobbying colleagues, like David Safavian, who was working in the Bush administration and could do favors for his clients. Susan Ralston, Abramoff's former gatekeeper and executive assistant, went to work for Karl Rove in the White House.

For a while, the whole operation seemed unstoppable. DeLay, Abramoff, Norquist, Reed and Rove vanquished their Democratic opponents, winning election after election. The loyalty that ensued allowed for a historic cohesion in Congress. Tax breaks passed like clockwork, as did subsidies for favored industries and cuts to long-standing Democratic initiatives. The Democratic Party, which had ruled Capitol Hill for half a century, imploded in confusion.

But the machine may now be coming to an end. The prosecutors have arrived, and they are handing out indictments at a blistering rate. "It's a house of cards," says Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "Jack Abramoff has been the ace of spades, but Tom DeLay has been linked arm in arm with him." Now the house is on the brink of collapse, he added. "Everything that surrounded the K Street Project and what flowed from it ... all of that is under intense pressure."

On Wednesday, DeLay was indicted with two aides by a Texas grand jury, accused of flouting campaign finance laws by illegally sending corporate funds to GOP candidates in the state.

<snip>.

But even if the collapse of Abramoff and the weakening of DeLay does not end the Republican reign, it will at least expose its workings. For years now, Republicans across Washington have been scratching each other's backs as they march in lockstep with a unified message. With each release of a subpoenaed e-mail, and every new indictment, more information about the workings of the machine -- and the money that was its lifeblood -- comes to light.

In recent weeks, for instance, Timothy Flanigan, a former attorney in the Bush White House, has been answering questions from Congress about his relationship to Abramoff. Flanigan, who has been nominated as deputy attorney general, went to work for the Bermuda-based corporation Tyco after he left the White House. Once there, he hired Abramoff as a lobbyist to reach out to Karl Rove on a tax issue. According to a report in the Washington Post, Abramoff boasted to Flanigan that "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" and that Rove could help fight a legislative proposal that would penalize U.S. companies that had moved offshore. Flanigan oversaw a $2 million payment to Abramoff for a related letter-writing campaign that never materialized. Flanigan says the money was diverted into other "entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff."

<snip>

The ability of DeLay and Abramoff to collect and distribute enormous sums of money was always a key to their success. They used the money to buy friends and crush enemies. They used the money to fund the Republican revolution. As Abramoff told the New York Times in March, "Eventually, money wins in politics."

Those words form a perfect epitaph for a political machine gone awry.
CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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2. Philippines: Marine General Charges “massive cheating,” Stolen Election

Why can’t we trade our opposition party for the Philippines opposition party, just for a couple of months? They have fought the fraudulent election of President (sic) Arroyo for months. They have not backed down when they’ve been diverted or threatened. They now have a General testifying against orders that massive election fraud took place. What a pleasure it is to see a passion for democracy and the basis for that system, free and fair elections. Please clip and forward to your members of congress.

http://www.dailytoreador.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/28/433a09cbeb093

General bares poll cheating for Arroyo

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2005/09/29/general.bares.poll.cheating.for.arroyo.html

Thursday, September 29, 2005
By Jonathan F. Fernandez and Marie S. Neri

MANILA -- A military general who was mentioned in the controversial "Hello Garci" tapes said Wednesday that "massive cheating" was done in Lanao del Sur during last year's general elections.

Brigadier General Francisco Gudani, former chief of the 1st Marine Brigade based in Mindanao, said among the irregular acts that he witnessed were hoarding of voters, harassment of election officers, ballot-snatching and intrusion of unregistered watchers.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

Gudani appeared during Wednesday's Senate hearing on the wiretapping scandal presided by Senator Rodolfo Biazon.

The general said he also received information that First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo arrived at Lanao del Sur two to three weeks before the May 10, 2004 elections "with P500 million to be given out to the election officers to ensure the victory of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

He said then Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano "was the one giving instructions to the election officers in the province on how to manipulate the results of the presidential elections in favor of the President."

He said he could present a witness who would corroborate his allegation against the First Gentleman. He said the witness was with the President's husband on board a private helicopter and that they landed somewhere in Iligan City.

<snip>

The President has barred the military personnel from appearing before any congressional inquiry without her permission through their immediate superiors.


<snip>

He said he believes that he was relieved as head of the 1st Marine Brigade because he "did not cooperate" with efforts to cheat in the elections.

He said the military hierarchy did not give a reason for his relief, only saying that it was for "his own protection". He said Lieutenant General Emmanuel Teodosio, then chief of the Armed Forces Flag Officers in Command, told him that it would be better for him not to go back anymore to Mindanao.

Gudani said deceased actor and opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., who was the most popular presidential contender in last year's elections, did not garner zero votes in Lanao.

"FPJ never got zero votes in Poona, Bayabao in Lanao del Sur," said Gudani. He added that 25 ballot boxes still in Lanao will prove that Poe got votes.

Gudani claimed that he was able "to witness and observed all kinds of cheating in Lanao from start to finish." "In Lanao, all kinds of cheating were done. They were recruiting and herding voters from other towns as flying voters," Gudani said.

He also told senators that Garcillano was a known "batikang mandaraya (veteran fraudster)" in Lanao del Sur.

<snip>

"It is incomprehensible and illogical that I would be asked to leave my unit when my presence as a commander was very material and at a critical time when I was badly needed by his unit during the counting of the votes," Gudani said.

His military superiors' intent became clear when he was able to talk to his classmate at the PMA who is now occupying a top-level position in the Armed Forces.

"He informed me by saying that a lot of money was given to concerned individuals for them to deliver the necessary votes in favor of President Arroyo. Also, my classmate told me that Garcillano asked Comelec official Rey Sumalipao that he could not rig the election with Gudani around," he pointed out.

<snip>

Despite President Arroyo's directive, the Senate will issue subpoenas to General Esperon and other military officials who failed to show up in the hearing.

<snip>

But Biazon refused to call President Arroyo's move to prohibit military officials to attend the Senate hearings as obstruction of justice. "It might be an attempt to intervene in the functioning of one branch of the government," Biazon added. (With a report from JPM/Sunnex)
CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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3. PA: Counties Buy UniLect; UniLect Decertified; State Picks Up Tab

I wonder how it is that these counties bought such lousy voting machines. Didn’t they review the capabilities, do their homework and select systems that work beyond the required standards. I guess not. Now, like a weak parent, the state of Pennsylvania is rewarding the counties for their bad judgment by covering their losses.

State to help pay for vote after machines decertified

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_378163.html

By TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 27, 2005

The state will help Beaver, Greene and Mercer counties pay for their Nov. 8 municipal elections after it decertified their electronic voting machines.

The costs could run from $46,000 in Greene County to $200,000 in Beaver County, officials said.

The three counties had been using UniLect Patriot voting machines, which were decertified in April after they failed a test for recording and counting votes.

Beaver County commissioners Chairman Dan Donatella said the three counties lobbied hard to get state help for the upcoming elections
.
"This caused us a lot of heartburn," he said.

<snip>

CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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4. Nation: BradBlog to Broadcast from Portland Summit to Save our Elections

Be sure to tune in!

On the Road Yet Again...
Plus The BRAD SHOW LIVE this Weekend from Portland, Oregon!
http://bradblog.com/
As I'm currently on The Road to Portland (with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and the lovely Dorothy Lamour!) to speak at the "National Summit to Save Our Elections" my ability to post regularly here at BRAD BLOG will again be somewhat curtailed for the next couple of weeks.

However, there is more to come from excellent Guest Bloggers Katrina and Dan Wilcox from their experience over the weekend at the huge rallies in DC, along with the return of other fave Guest Bloggers including David Edwards, Winter Patriot and various other Special Guest Bloggers who may drop in from time to time in the upcoming weeks with some interesting reports!

Further good news is that we are hoping to broadcast a LIVE BRAD SHOW this weekend, on location from Portland during our usual Saturday Night 7p-11p ET timeslot. See http://www.BradShow.com for more and join us here at BRAD BLOG during the show for a Live Open Thread (presuming we are able to pull it all off...which is looking positive as of this morning!)

I had hoped to lay low concerning the weekend show for a bit, in preparation for a "step up" for The BRAD SHOW which, to nobody's surprise, is taking a bit longer to get nailed down than we'd like. So hopefully a fix this weekend will do everyone (both you and me!) a bit of good as we move forward! Feel free to help us out with a bit of gas and/or cell phone money (don't ask about my cell phone bill after Crawford!) to help defray all of the above, as we will likely be unable to get ads sold for this weekend's show as we move Northward!

And thanks, as always, for all of your various and generous support!

Blogged by Brad on 9/27/2005 @ 10:35am PT.
CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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5. CA: Secretary of State Forms Committee for Open Source Election Software

Help me here.This excellent article talks about a committee to open up electronic voting . It says, “With any luck at all, California will show the way to get Open Voting instituted across the U.S.” Wouldn’t it have made sense to make sure open voting were instituted befoe machines were purchased and put in place?


CA Sec. of State Forming Panel to Investigate Open Source Software for Elections
http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=35

California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson is forming a panel to investigate using open source software in elections. He has invited OVC president Alan Dechert to be on the panel, and has asked for Dechert's input on who should be on the panel.

Many people, including Charlene Woodcock, have written to Secretary McPherson asking him to meet with OVC. In a letter to Charlene dated SEP 21, 2005 , McPherson wrote:

My staff has met with Alan Dechert of the Open Voting Consortium and continues to communicate with him on this subject. My office will be appointing a task force consisting of experts such as Mr. Dechert to conduct a study of Open Source Code and provide it to the Legislature. We have also asked him to recommend participants on our panel that will study open source code for voting systems.

Engineer extraordinaire, Amy Pearl and OVC co-founder, Board Secretary, Professor Arthur Keller also attended the July meeting (referred to in McPherson's letter). Amy and Arthur deserve much of the credit for bringing the Secretary of State's office around.

In an earlier letter to Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, McPherson referred to the "committee" he was forming. The exact nature of this "committee," "task force," or "panel," has not quite been determined. We expect this to involve public hearings.

Among the many illustrious individuals indicating they want to participate in the panel (and whose names Dechert submitted) are Bruce Perens and Brian Behlendorf. Behlendorf started Apache -- open source free software on which 70 percent of the web sites on the Internet are running.

This all started when OVC supporter Richard Dawson drafted a resolution and gave it to his representative in the State Assembly (Jackie Goldberg). Goldberg introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 242 (ACR 242). OVC supporters helped to get the resolution passed in the State Legislature over some industry opposition. Alan Dechert testified in favor of it before the Senate Elections Committee on AUG 11, 2004.

As a State Senator at the time, McPherson voted for it -- one of few Republicans that did so.

The report could form the philosophical basis for our Open Voting bill and could also provide the justification for getting HAVA funding for voting system Research and Development. OVC is asking that the CA State Government hire the University of California to do this work. McPherson has also made public statements indicating that he is in favor of this. A recent article in the Oakland Tribune says, "McPherson proposes pooling federal voting-reform money for several states and devoting it to research on the best way to verify electronic voting."

With any luck at all, California will show the way to get Open Voting instituted across the U.S.!
CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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6. PORTLAND, OREGON: National Summit to Save Our Elections 9/31-10/2

About the National Summit to Save Our Elections
Portland, Oregon * September 30 – October 2, 2005

Register Now

Our Goal: Rescue Democracy

This Summit arises out of the need to rescue our democracy by restoring the right of "We the People" to vote and to oversee the counting of our votes. The objective of this conference is to bring together all the latest information on efforts to restore public ownership and oversight of elections, and to ensure the fundamental right of every American citizen to vote and to have each vote counted as intended in a secure, transparent, impartial, and independently audited election process. There are many facets to this effort and it will take everyone to get involved in order to achieve the goal.

Our Presenters: Top Experts

The Summit agenda will feature an exciting mix of panel presentations, workshops, and keynote addresses presented by the nation's most active and knowledgeable election reform experts.* Speakers include Jesse Jackson Jr., David Cobb, Ronnie Dugger, Thom Hartmann, Jefferson Smith and many more. All presentations and workshops are scheduled to allow some time to take questions from the audience. We have designed the agenda to allow attendees to network and also attend presentations and workshops. (*The agenda is final but is subject to change if a speaker is unavailable.)

Exploring Beyond the Agenda

Throughout the Summit, attendees may explore the following ongoing sessions:
Oregon Election System Poster Session: Learn how Oregon’s Vote-by-Mail system works by viewing poster presentations and videos and have your questions answered by Oregon election officials and citizen experts.
Networking Lounge: Come here to have refreshments, meet each other and talk more in depth about your election reform questions and plans of action.
Information Tables: Summit sponsors will have information tables for you to peruse to learn more about their efforts to advance election reforms and how you can help.

Please Join Us at the Summit

The National Summit to Save Our Elections will provide you with ample opportunities to listen and learn, but also to interact and engage with both the speakers and your fellow concerned citizens who are coming to Portland from all over the country. We also hope the Summit will inspire you to take action that will help all of us successfully bring about the election reform this country needs and deserves.

Thank you for your interest in the Summit to Save Our Elections!
We hope to see you September 30 – October 2, 2005 in Portland, Oregon!

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7. Nation: From Count Paper Ballots & Many Others on Carter-Baker

************ PRESS RELEASE *************************************

Citizens Disagree Vehemently With the Findings of the Baker-Carter Commission Final Election Report

Release from: Phyllis A. Huster | Executive Director | Count Paper Ballots | (w) 770.432.0199 | www.countpaperballots.com

Count Paper Ballots a nationwide nonpartisan citizen election reform group focused on fair and transparent elections finds report’s conclusions are dangerous for democracy and guarantees a status quo of fraudulent, corporate controlled elections.

With all due respect to Dr. Robert Pastor, Former President Jimmy Carter and Mr. James Baker and the members of the Election Commision, the citizens vehemently disagree with the findings of the Baker-Carter Commission Final Election Report. Speaking on behalf of Count Paper Ballots, a Georgia based citizen election reform group, executive director Phyllis Huster says “this report is dangerous for democracy because it encourages using even more technology for the counting of our votes when the clear citizen cry is no more electronic voting. Worse the report encourages the status quo of privatized, corporate controlled elections when we advocate returning elections back to the citizens where they belong. Without fixing the problem of HAVA giving $3.6 billion in taxpayer monies to 2 companies ES&S and Diebold who control 80% of the voting machine market we will never fix elections with the bandaids proposed in this report. It’s time to walk away from HAVA. Diebold & ES&S have documented GOP ownership increasing the risk that one man, in this case Chuck Hagel because of his interest in the McCarthy Group which has interests in both Diebold and ES&S will control who wins the next election.” This existing problem is totally unacceptable to the citizens of the US and the Baker-Carter report completely missed addressing this key problem.

Over 70% of the 150 US based citizen election reform groups vehemently disagree with a conclusion that touchscreen or optical scan capturing and counting our votes will ever result in honest elections or that privatized vendor control will produce anything other than rigged elections. The philosophy and spirit of the Baker-Carter Commision is that the system while broken can be fixed. Contrarily, citizen opinion is that we need to wipe the slate clean and design a uniform, nationwide, hand counted paper ballots, citizen counted on election night (not later with audits) election system. We are not opposed to electronic capture of the vote, only electronic counting of the votes such as is currently the case with central tabulators that have been shown to malfunction or are be easily reprogrammed realtime on election night. Both Optiscans and Touchscreen technologies use electronic counting of our votes by using central tabulators that have been proven easy to hack by the famous ‘are we having fun yet?’ Harri Hursti exercise in Leon County Florida by Black Box Voting (www.blackboxvoting.org). We also feel strongly that legislation is missing for proper audits to occur and that audits are after the fact and each day after the election, ballot integrity is compromised. Further, the costs of electronic capture do not outweigh their benefits. Therefore, CPB pushes for nationwide, standardized hand counted paper ballot systems, counted election night and permission to be videotaped by citizens with full citizen access to ballots free of cost anytime after the election.

Citizen groups tried to warn this panel for months and were ignored along with providing volumes of emails and CDs provided containing very real and powerful trench data from the 2004 election. This data was collected by citizens such as CPB Count Paper Ballots, the Houston Citizen Hearing, and earlier outlined in detail by the John Conyers report were largely ignored by the report. Citizen groups were not even references, nor the fact that every state has on average 3 citizen election reform groups so worried are citizens with the current state of elections. This raw data, cost thousands of dollars paid for by citizen groups and most of these 2004 election open records requests were never fully complied with in Georgia and Ohio. (CPB paid over $10k for open recs) (visit http://www.countpaperballots.com/cox-terrorist-response.htm for an example of how citizens cannot access electronic ballots). The results of the citizens audited data was ignored even though it was absolute proof that privatized elections do not work for America and only ensured that machine failures caused vendor specialists to run our elections instead of county election directors. The Baker-Carter Commission essentially advocates technology for the counting of the votes and even more technology for the auditing of the paper receipts. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just print a paper ballot and use free citizen labor to count these ballots?


Cynthia McKinney in a July 18th press conference proved that Diebold technicians ran the 2002 Georgia election and that an entire shipment of machines were stolen and never recovered putting all Diebold systems (optiscan and touchscreen) at a severe security risk. See http://www.countpaperballots.com/Cynthia-SpeakingTranscript60.htm More importantly, Baker-Carter call for “an auditable backup on paper this time, but we recognize the possibility of alternative technologies to audit those machines in the future.” The fallacy in this argument is that elections are about counting the votes weeks if not months after the election, we feel the goal is counting the votes on paper on election night, by hand with 3 or 4 humans counting and double counting every vote. The people power for this can come from jury duty like requirements as it is every citizen’s duty to participate in elections. The other fallacy of machines counting machine based paper is that a. the paper must be more than the current Diebold cash register receipt which fades with heat, and b. it guarantees privatized elections, that is US citizens depending on corporations and software that can be modified without trace and remotely on election night to help administer our elections. Paper once marked cannot be modified, software can always be modified without trace. That is why software cannot manage our elections.

This report continues to endorse election technology vendors play a key role in administering US elections mostly because several of the members on the Baker Carter Commission such as Ralph Munroe operates an election technology company. There was additional conflict of interest in this panel from the outset including James Baker who was Bush’s lawyer in the 2000 election challenge that went all the way to the Supreme court where judges essentially decided who would be our President. Huster asserts, “those of us in Georgia have known that we have unelected officials in our state house and senate, and that 132 years of democratic leadership was handed to GOP leaders in 2002 when Diebold entered the state and that many of our current officials were never elected by the ‘we the people’”. Finally, we do not feel that ballot integrity may be insured by prosecutors as the report insists ‘to improve ballot integrity we propose that federal, state and local prosecutors issue public reports on their investigations of election fraud.” State, local and federal prosecutors, partisan in nature failed the citizens of Ohio. Thomas Moyer, the Ohio State Republican supreme court judge, shut down the Greens/Libertarian recount efforts. Julia Bates, the Lucas county prosecutor, appointed by Bernadette Noe’s father, a powerful democrat in the state, and Noe the wife of embroiled “Coingate” scandal Republican Tom Noe, is still sitting comfortably in her $2M mansion in Florida while Julia Bates enables the FBI to confiscate and never bring to citizen light the information on her hard drive. This is not partisan issue as much as it is tied to ‘pay to play’ schemes that both Democrats and Republicans produce favors and nobid contracts in exchange for campaign donations. Citizen open records requests for Noe’s emails have been obstructed by John Borrell, the assistant county prosecutor as of September 19, 2005. Ohio, New Mexico, California and New Hampshire all brilliant examples that partisan prosecutors and partisan federal pressure from a single branch Republican government, which we now have, prevents any citizen redress at all, unless citizens want to risk being put in jail for making legal challenges to the election. (see www.erievoices.com for a complete listing of all the problems of the Lucas county prosecutors and how Internet bloggers were put in jail without given a phonecall by capturing and publishing Ohio corrupt politicians activities).

In no less than 10 citizen requests for judicial, FBI and federal investigation of the fraud in the Ohio election, there has not been a single investigation other than by John Conyers and his report has been largely ignored by the US House & Senate.

Citizen groups have long since agreed that while any form of electronic voting occurs on either touchscreen or optiscan machines it is the strong opinion of 70% of the 150 citizen based election reform community that we will have stolen elections. Visit Black Box Voting.org, visit ecotalk.org, visit caseohio.org, visit velvetrevolution.us if you want to see citizen groups opposing most forms of electronic voting as being impossible to secure from fraud. Read how in Ohio and other states, Diebold lobbyists wrote $10,000 checks to election directors such as Matt Damschroder of Franklin county to secure the purchase of their technology in that county. It’s clear that corporate motive being that of profit and citizen motives, that of fair and honest elections can never be the same. Also read that in most states, recount audits were illegally shutdown in Ohio by Republican judge Thomas Moyer and in New Mexico where it was ruled the recount was improperly administered requiring a new recount. There is little legislative or election law precedent supporting the mechanisms of audits. Besides it is not our civic duty to count ballots weeks after the election but rather to hand count the ballots on election night to secure a safe, fair and honest election. And most importantly, it is our duty to return elections to the citizens and remove them from their current control in the hands of corporations that are owned by strongly partisan owners.

Clearly the election commission did not want to hear from the citizens except for a few hours in Houston in which case it was mostly placating and not a substantive ongoing bi-directional dialogue. CPB personally sent Jimmy Carter a 48 page fax demonstrating evidence of election fraud in his own home state, Georgia and there was not even a single response to this fax. CPB also sent numerous emails to Monica Marvin of the American University’s Center for Democracy only to realize we were never called or emailed directly by anyone on the Baker-Carter commission about our proof of machine mistabulations in the Georgia 2004 election or the evidence we have that citizens have no county level redress with fixing election fraud.

The Baker-Carter report findings versus citizen findings is outlined below:


BAKER CARTER FINDING
Uniform Voter ID System
CITIZEN FINDINGS
Extensive (Many ID Choices) Voter ID System

BAKER CARTER FINDING
Up To Date Registration Lists
CITIZEN FINDINGS
Election Day Registration

BAKER CARTER FINDING
Enhance Ballot Integrity
CITIZEN FINDINGS
Hand Counted Paper Ballots

BAKER CARTER FINDING
Voter Verified Paper Trail
CITIZEN FINDINGS
Citizen Verified Election Night Paper Ballot Counting

BAKER CARTER FINDING
Impartial, Professional, Independent
CITIZEN FINDING
Citizen, Inexpensive, Videotaped, Nonpartisan

In short, citizen demands we shut down $3.6 billion dollar HAVA fund which is nothing more than a funnel to privatization of our elections and a guarantee that US elections will be fraudulent and concentrated in the hands of 2 companies ES&S and Diebold. To massively decrease the cost of elections by making citizen pollworkers similar to jury duty, removing this cost from the system and going back to paper ballots which is as much as 100 times cheaper than electronic voting per ballot. Remove all electronic voting for ‘counting’ of the votes, this includes Optiscan and Touchscreens and central tabulators. Enable election day citizen based counting of the elections in full view, with videotaping allowed on a ballot by ballot basis and make it free for citizens to get copies of all the ballots for citizen based recounts. We want extensive choices for Voter IDs not 4 IDs as proposed by Georgia but more like the previous 17 forms as was the prior case in Georgia. Remove all partisan aspects of the election officials from Secretary of State to Boards of Registration to Election directors. Give citizens direct redress to bring election fraud allegations including a nonpartisan legal body to bring fraud claims removing such legal procedures from a standard county level prosecutor which was appointed by a partisan official.

Finally, stop producing silly reports, the outcome of which do nothing more than encourage a broken system to operate, encourage privatized elections, but instead start giving genuine, innovative solutions for how to restore honest elections in America. At this point the future our children depends on this one outcome of fixing what is a terribly broken and getting privatized completely out of our election systems in America.

Count Paper Ballots (CPB) is a nationwide citizen group dedicated to proving that privatized elections lead to mistabulated & fraudulent vote counting. We advocate hand counted, citizen secured, paper ballots as the ballot of record, counted in full view of citizens, election day and are doing detailed audits of 2004 Election in GA and OH. Contact info: 678.362.9111, mailing , email [e-mail]

Black Box Voting (.ORG) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501c(3) organization. We are the official consumer protection group for elections, funded by citizen donations. Contact info: 425-793-1030; cell 206-335-7747 or 206-354-5723; Mailing address: 330 SW 43rd St. Suite K, Box 547, Renton WA 98055. E-mail

[e-mail]

Ecotalk. Voting, politics, the environment, health, and other stuff. Lynn is one of the nation's leading journalists on voting systems and democracy issues. Her articles are published on this website, in the alternative press, and in other online and print publications. Contact 215) 629-3553, email [e-mail]. www.ecotalk.org.

The Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections (C.A.S.E.) is a non-partisan organization of citizens from across Ohio who advocate for elections that are secure, reliable, and employ the nation’s best practices. We inform the public, the media, political leaders and government officials about problems in Ohio which we believe compromise our voting. Email [e-mail]. Website: www.caseohio.org.

Citizen Organizations Which Do Not Advocate Electronic COUNTING of the Votes:

ARIZONA
Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections

Arizona Volunteers Organized for Tomorrow’s Elections

ARKANSAS
National Coalition for Verified Voting:

CALIFORNIA
California Voter Foundation

California Democratic Party

Californians for Electoral Reform

S.A.V.E Democracy:

South Bay Phone Banking (Griffin)

Grassroots CA-OH-FL

COLORADO
Coloradoans for Voting Integrity

Citizens for Accurate Mail Ballot Election Results (CAMBER)

Coloradoans For Voting Integrity

CONNECTICUT
True Vote Connecticut

Recount The Votes

FLORIDA
Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition:

Florida Voting Activists

Gotta Audit

Recount Florida

Grassroots CA-OH-FL

GEORGIA
Count Paper Ballots

Count the Vote

Voter Choice Coalition

Defenders of Democracy

HAWAII
Safe Vote Hawaii:

ILLINOIS
Illinois Ballot Integrity Project:

IOWA
Democracy for Iowa

LOUISIANA
Louisiana Counts:

MARYLAND
TrueVote MD

Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland

MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace:

John Conyers Official Website

(Our Hero!)

John Conyers Blog

MINNESOTA
Citizens for Election Integrity - Minnesota



Fair Vote Minnesota:

MISSOURI
No Stolen Elections

NEW HAMPSHIRE
National Ballot Integrity Project: New Hampshire Task Force - Sharona Merel



NEW JERSEY
Coalition for Peace Action

New Jersey Citizen’s Coalition on the Implementation of HAVA:

Grassroots Action Supporting Progress

NEW MEXICO
Verified Voting New Mexico:

United Voters of New Mexico

Democracy for New Mexico

Florida League of Conservation Voters Education Fund

NEW YORK
New Yorkers for Verified Voting:

Where’s the Paper?

NORTH CAROLINA
NC Voter (Formerly: North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting):

OHIO
Ohio Honest Elections Campaign

(OUR HERO!)

Recount Ohio:

Ohio Vote Suppression News:

Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections

Ohio Voters Reform

Campaign Ohio

Ohio Vigilance

Grassroots OH-CA-FL

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma Grassroots Campaign:

OREGON
Oregon Voter Rights Coalition:

Oregon Clean Vote:

Action Speaks:

Oregon Voting

We Do Not Concede

PENNSYLVANIA
Mercer County Citizens for Better Government - Kathy McPherson -

Vote PA

TEXAS
Texas Safe Voting

UTAH
US Counts Votes

VERMONT
Vermonters for Voting Integrity

VIRGINIA
Virginians for Verified Voting: Eva Hudlicka -

WASHINGTON
Citizens for Voting Integrity - Washington:

Concerned Citizens for Democratic Integrity (King County): Holly Jacobson -

Voters Unite

WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia Citizens for HAVA: Hedda Hanning -

West Virginia Citizen Action Group

OTHER NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
51 Capital March

ACT

ACLU Florida

Audit The Vote

Backbone Campaign

Baker Carter Commission

Black Box Voting

(Bev Harris, an Electronic Voting Expert and author of Black Box Voting)

BradBlog

Bush Cheated ‘04

Citizens Act

Citizen Advocacy Center

Citizens for Ethics

Citizens for a Fair Vote Count (Vote Fraud)

Coalition Against Election Fraud

Coalition for Visible Ballots

Cobb for President

Code Pink

Common Cause

Computer Scientist for Social Responsibility (CPSR)

Constitution Project

Count Every Vote

Democracy for America / Dean for America

Demos

Election Line

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Election Online

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Election Science Institute (formerly VoteWatch)

Electronic Vote and Democracy

Electoral Integrity

ExitPollz

Fair Elections

Fair Vote

Help America Recount

Hunger for Democracy

Investigate the Vote

Juice for Justice

Just a Fly on the Wall (Clint Curtis Website)

League of Women Voters

Left.org

Mercury Coalition for Honest Elections

MoveOn

National Ballot Integrity Project

National Coalition for Verified Voting

National Committee for Voting Integrity

National Voting Rights Institute

No Confidence Resolution

No Mandate

Nov 2 Truth

Nov 3

Notable Software

Open Voting Consortium (OVC)

Perfect Voting System

People For the American Way

Project Vote Smart

SAVE Democracy

Solarbus Election Data

Solar Bus

Stolen Election 2004

The Dean People

This Time We're Watching

True Majority:

Truth in Voting

US Counts Votes

US Voting Integrity Project

Vote America

Velvet Revolution

Verified Voting

Voice 4 Change

Vote Scam

Vote Trust USA

VOTERGATE Resource Center:

VOTERR Voices for Open and Truthful Election Results & Reform

VoteWatch renamed to Election Science

Voters Unite

We Do Not Concede Coalition



Phyllis A. Huster | Executive Director | Count Paper Ballots | (w) 770.432.0199 | www.countpaperballots.com






********** Baker Carter Commission Final Report Email *************
Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform Stresses Urgency of Reform

Former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker Release
Bi-Partisan Election Reform Report to Policymakers and the public



Washington , DC ( September 19, 2005) The final report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former president Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, was released to the public today. The 21-member Commission offers 87 recommendations to strengthen the country's electoral system and build confidence in the political process. The full report, as well as the executive summary and the list of recommendations, is available on the Commission Web site at: http:// www.american.edu/Carter-Baker . Please direct inquiries to the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University -- [e-mail] or [phone].


The 21-member private commission is organized by American University. Comprised of former Members of Congress, scholars and nonpartisan leaders, the group identified "five pillars" of election reform voter registration, voter identification, voting technology, increased access to voting and nonpartisan election administration and recommended ways to strengthen them.



-------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Democracy & Election Management
American University
3201 New Mexico Avenue, NW Suite 265
Washington, DC 20016-8026
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: http://www.american.edu/internationalaffairs/cdem/

[spooky3]

8. Thanks.

[tom_paine]

9. kick

:kick:

[freedomfries]

10. kick & rec

thanks for a great thread auto!